Week of 17 to 21 August 2026·Published
Week in Brief
Gold spreads held at 0.257 USD all week as XAU/USD rallied toward 4,600. EUR/USD stayed stable at 0.829 pips all week. GBP/USD spreads widened sharply, from 1.1 pips on 17 August to 1.267 on 21 August, coinciding with UK PMI beating expectations and GBP hitting six-month highs.
Spread Movements by Instrument
EUR/USD
stable- Week range
- 0.829 pips average across brokers, unchanged all week
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips all week
- Notable
- Average held at 0.829 on all five days, on 7 brokers.
GBP/USD
widened- Week range
- 1.1 to 1.267 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips most days, Pepperstone at 0.2 on 21 August
- Notable
- Average jumped from 1.1 on 20 August to 1.267 on 21 August, the same day UK PMI data pushed GBP to six-month highs.
USD/JPY
stable- Week range
- 1.029 pips average across brokers, unchanged all week
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips every day
- Notable
- Flat 1.029 average across all 5 days with consistent 7-broker coverage, the most stable pair this week.
XAU/USD
stable- Week range
- 0.257 USD average across brokers, unchanged all week
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.12 USD all week
- Notable
- Average held at 0.257 USD all week as gold rallied toward 4,600, on coverage of only 3 brokers.
WTI/USD
stable- Week range
- 3.15 to 3.375 points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 1.5 to 1.6 points
- Notable
- Average held at 3.375 apart from a dip to 3.15 on 20 August, with only 4 brokers reporting, a thin sample.
US500
stable- Week range
- 0.675 to 0.725 points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 0.4 points all week
- Notable
- Only 4 brokers cover US500 all week, average held near 0.675 to 0.7 with a single-day bump to 0.725 on 19 August.
GER40
stable- Week range
- 4.477 points average, unchanged all week
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 1.4 points all week
- Notable
- Flat 4.477 average every day, but only 3 brokers report this instrument, below the reliability threshold.
NAS100
tightened- Week range
- 1.4 to 1.567 points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 0.8 points all week
- Notable
- Average eased from 1.567 on 18 August to 1.4 on 21 August, though only 3 brokers report, making the move thin.
BTC/USD
widened- Week range
- 20 to 23.36 price-points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 15 to 16.4 price-points
- Notable
- Average swung from 22.253 to 20 to 23.36 across the week with only 2 to 3 brokers reporting, a thin and volatile sample.
Broker Spotlight
BlackBull Markets was the tightest broker overall, topping the cheapest-broker tally with 19 of 45 key instrument-days, and held the lowest quote on EUR/USD (0.1 pips), USD/JPY (0.1 pips), GBP/USD (0.1 pips most days) and XAU/USD (0.12 USD) all week. ThinkMarkets followed with 15 and IG Group with 10. The widest outlier was XM on EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY, consistently quoting 2 to 2.5 pips versus BlackBull's 0.1.
Market Context
- S&P Global US PMIs due 21 August were expected to ease slightly while still showing solid growth, a data point traders watched alongside stable US index spreads.